Precious
by McBreadle
Summary: Part 5 in my DuCaine series.its Donna and Daisy Jo Caine's christening.Hugh and Anna are there with their daughter Chloe.Kyle turns up late and Horatio isn't too pleased with him.then there are the cases at the lab and a surprize for Cal right at the end
1. Chapter 1

**Precious Chapter 1**

It was the christening of Donna Jade and Daisy Joanne Caine. The service had gone without a hitch, and now they were in the Caine house celebrating.

"The service was beautiful, congratulations to the both of you."

Calleigh recognised that voice, "Anna! It's great to see you. I'm really happy you could make it to be godparents. Where's Hugh gone?"

Calleigh gave Anna a hug, "he's around somewhere. He'll be showing Chloe off to everyone. The rest of your team haven't met her yet."

"She's getting big now," Calleigh sounded surprised herself. Chloe was growing up very quickly and she felt that she was missing it with the McBreadles living so far away.

"Oh don't remind me, it's flying by. Anyway, where have your two gone?"

Calleigh looked around, Daisy Jo was fast asleep in the pram and Donna was in daddy's arms, trying to take daddy's bottle of beer from his hand. Typical Donna, always trying to get into mischief. She then noticed Hugh talking to Horatio, with Chloe sat on his lap.

"Well Daisy Jo is fast asleep over there and Donna is getting into trouble with daddy as usual."

Anna laughed, "I take it you both have your hands full?"

"Donna can be a handful, she's always on the go and wanting to get into things that she's not supposed to. Daisy Jo is a lot quieter. She loves her sleep, just like her daddy."

"So where does Donna get her mischief qualities from?"

Suddenly Calleigh felt a hand on her shoulder, "hey Lambchop."

Calleigh turned round and gave her dad a huge hug then turned to Anna with one of her arms around Duke's back, "this is my dad Duke, this is where Donna got her mischief genes from."

Duke mocked being offended, "now where would you get an idea like that from?" Duke grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh I wander! Daddy, this is Dr Anna McBreadle she's one of Daisy Jo's godmothers."

Duke put his hand out to greet Anna, "oh so you're Anna. Calleigh and Horatio told

me all about you both and your daughter. It's nice to meet you at last."

"Well thank you," Anna responded to Duke's gesture.

"Now where are those gorgeous grand-daughters of mine?"

"Now don't you go waking Daisy Jo up, you will be in trouble if you do."

Duke had a mischievous smile across his face, "now would I do a thing like that to you Lambchop?"

Calleigh's eyes narrowed to meet her dads, "I mean it dad."

"Okay, okay! Point taken," Duke wandered over to Horatio who was trying to wrestle his beer bottle from Donna, much to Stetler's amusement.

"Would you like me to take her?"

Horatio turned round to meet Duke, "oh yes please. I can't even have a sip without her grabbing my bottle. Rick's not being much help, he's just watching me struggle."

Stetler was stood trying to keep a straight face, "hey Daisy Jo is my god-daughter, not Donna," Stetler joked but was disappointed that his fun was over.

Duke took Donna from Horatio, "now then missus, you don't want to be starting that, granddad knows all about that. It's not pretty, just ask mummy."  
Donna replied with pulling at Duke's eyelid, then flashed her big ocean blue eyes at her granddad which melted Duke's heart, how could he be mad at that? Horatio laughed.

Hugh had been sat in his wheelchair watching this episode take place with Chloe sat on his lap, "Horatio, exactly who are Donna's godparents and who are Daisy Jo's? I'm a bit confused."

Horatio chuckled, "well, Daisy Jo's godparents are Anna, Rick, Ryan and Alexx. Donna's godparents are yourself, Frank, Natalia and Eric."

Hugh was impressed, "now I have trouble remembering who Chloe's godparents are, but you have two sets to remember, rather you than me mate!"

"Uncle Ratio?" a little voice could be heard coming from Hugh's lap.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Please can I have something to eat now?"

Horatio crouched down to Chloe's level, "I'll tell you what Chloe, do want to come and help me unwrap all of the food on the table?"

The little brunette's brown eyes open wide with excitement, "oh yes please!"

Horatio put his hand out and Chloe held it, "and if you do a really good job, you can get your food before everyone else."

Chloe got all excited and jumped off her dad's lap and went with her Uncle Horatio.

Stetler turned to Hugh, "you've lost her now."

Hugh smiled, "well, I don't mind, she doesn't get to see Cal and Horatio much or 'Ratio' as Chloe calls him."

Duke was struggling to keep Donna under control. She was wriggling about and pulling at Duke's face, hair, tie or anything she could get her little hands on.

"Are you okay there Duke?" Stetler put his empty bottle in the trash can next to him.

"Yeah, well, I don't think that there is any skin left on my face now," Duke laughed.

Stetler put his hands out to Donna who in turn reached out to Stetler. Duke felt relieved that he could keep his face in one piece.

As Stetler held Donna, whilst talking to Hugh and Duke, Eric walked past with Suze.

"So you do baby-sit children as well as Horatio?" Eric couldn't resist.

Stetler looked at Eric, he wasn't impressed. Suddenly, Hugh stiffed the air and screwed up his nose, "that doesn't smell too good."

Stetler lifted up Donna and could smell what Hugh smelt, he looked at Donna, "I think it's time you went back to your mother."

Eric, Suze, Duke and Hugh burst into laughter.

At the food table, Horatio had Chloe as his little helper and uncovering the food. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. He gently turned round to meet Calleigh's smile. He put his arms around Calleigh, "hey gorgeous." Horatio gave his girlfriend a kiss on the lips. Chloe pulled a face, "mummy and daddy like to do that."

Horatio and Calleigh chuckled at the innocence of Chloe's comment. Horatio noticed over Calleigh's shoulder, Stetler making a beeline for them with Donna in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Precious Chapter 2**

"Uh oh, looks like Donna's been causing trouble again," Horatio whispered in Calleigh's ear. Calleigh turned round as Stetler approached, "I think she may need her diaper changing."

Horatio took Donna from Stetler, "I'll sort her out. Cal, can you just finish this off. I've promised Chloe that she can have her food before everyone else."

Calleigh smiled at Chloe, "sure thing, let's finish this off."

A couple of hours later, everyone had eaten and drunk a lot. Ryan and Natalia were dancing in the dining room, they'd had a lot to drink. Alexx, Frank and Stetler were sat in the kitchen talking to Anna and Hugh about when Calleigh and Horatio got together in London. Chloe had fallen asleep on her daddy's lap. Eric and Suze were sat on the sofa with the twins.

Duke approached Calleigh and Horatio who were starting to tidy up.  
"Lambchop, I'm going to make a move now," Calleigh stopped in her tracks and looked at her dad.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine sweetheart, I have to be in court early in the morning so I need my beauty sleep."

Calleigh smiled sweetly, "daddy you'll be fine. You worry too much."

Duke smiled and hugged Calleigh, "I'm so proud of you, you know that don't you?"

Calleigh looked at Duke, "thank you daddy."

Duke looked at Horatio, "I'm proud of both of you. You have two gorgeous daughters and I'm so happy to be granddad, at long last."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Calleigh teased.

"Well you've always been a career gal, I never thought you'd settle down and have children."

Calleigh blushed slightly, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Well, I best be off. If either of you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, okay?"

Calleigh smiled and Horatio acknowledged what Duke had said with a nod of his head.

There was a knock on the front door, Horatio headed in that direction, "I'll get that. You look after yourself Duke."

Horatio answered the door and Kyle was stood there. Horatio invited him in but was a bit annoyed with him. Just as Kyle walked in, Duke left and Calleigh saw Kyle come in as she saw her dad off, "I thought you weren't going to make it Kyle?"

Kyle looked at Calleigh, "sorry, something came up."

Horatio looked at his older son, he wasn't impressed, "yeah I bet it did."

Calleigh looked at Horatio then at Kyle, "I'll go see where the twins are," and she left the pair of them to it.

Kyle knew that he was in trouble with his dad from the look on Horatio's face.  
"Dad, I'm sorry."

"Son, your mother phoned me at eleven o'clock this morning to tell me that you'd just left home for the church. It is now nearly seven thirty in the evening. Both your mother and I have been worried about you all day. Where have you been?"

Kyle shuffled his feet around whilst watching them. Horatio pressed the matter with him, "well?"

"I bumped into some of my mates and lost track of time."

"For over eight hours?" Horatio tried his best not to raise his voice.

Kyle shifted his weight and tilted his head and looked at Horatio, "dad, I said I was sorry."

Horatio thought for a moment, "Kyle, this was a special day for your sisters. It would have been nice for their big brother to be there."

"Maybe I don't want to be a big brother," Kyle snapped back. He didn't intend on saying that but it was out in the open now and he couldn't take it back.

Horatio was quite taken back by this outburst, "so you're telling me that you didn't come to the church because you don't like having sisters."

"When you told me that Calleigh was pregnant, I was happy for you but I wasn't keen on the idea of little brats running around every time I came to see you. You'd not have anytime for me with your new family. Also you weren't around for when I was a baby, but you'll be around for those two. It just didn't seem fair."

Horatio smiled slightly, if he didn't know better, Kyle was jealous of his little sisters.  
"Kyle, I don't have a new family, Calleigh and the twins are an extension of my current one. I will always have time for you, you know that. And you know why I wasn't round when you were a baby, if I had known about you, I would have been there but you know all of this."

Kyle retreated slightly, "so you still want me around?"

Horatio looked curiously at Kyle, "of course I do, what gave you that idea?"

"Well, one of the lads I hang around with said that his dad had nothing to do with him once his dad found another woman and had more kids. He told me that you'd be the same."

Horatio tilted his head and smiled, "I would never do that, you know I won't,"

Horatio looked at Kyle, "besides, I may need you when I get the girls get older."

"Why?"

"I'll need you on my side when they all gang up on me. Three females against one male don't make good odds but my odds will be better with you there."

Kyle laughed, "thanks dad. I'm sorry I missed it all, I should have spoken to you about it before."

"Next time something is on your mind, come find me."  
Kyle nodded.

"Does your mother know you're here?"

Kyle shook his head.

"Well go use the phone in the lounge and ring her, she's as worried as me."  
Kyle went into the lounge followed by Horatio.

Horatio arrived to the lounge to see Eric holding a sleeping Donna and Calleigh holding a very active Daisy Jo.

Horatio took Donna from Eric, "I'll go put her to bed, she's been on the go all day," Horatio went upstairs to put his daughter to bed.

When he came back down, he got a surprise. Kyle was holding Daisy Jo and talking jibberish to her. Daisy Jo was laughing and giggling at him. As Horatio watched Kyle with his baby sister, he felt so proud of his family. He also felt very lucky to have such great friends. Horatio was stood in his thoughts when Alexx interrupted him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Precious Chapter 3**

"Hey Horatio, are you okay?"

Horatio looked at Alexx and then back at Kyle, "you would never have believed that half an hour ago, Kyle didn't want anything to do with the twins would you?"

Alexx looked towards Kyle playing with Daisy Jo, "he's looks to be a natural with children, just like his father."

Horatio lowered his head to hide his slight embarrassment, "Alexx, how did you deal with jealousy amongst your children?"

Alexx looked at Horatio, "was that Kyle's problem?"

Horatio nodded.

"You just need to give him time to adjust."

"The girls are six months old and he's only just told me that he's jealous of them. Well, he didn't say that he was jealous but I could tell by what he said and how he said it."

"What ever was said between you both, it seemed to have done the trick," Alexx put her hand on Horatio's arm, "just make sure you get Kyle involved as much as you can in the girls lives, but don't expect him to be involved in the diaper department. It's not cool for young boys to change diapers."

Horatio chuckled, "Alexx, thank you."

"No problem baby, anytime," Alexx gave Horatio a hug.

Calleigh came looking for Horatio and found him with Alexx at the bottom of the stairs outside the lounge, she couldn't resist teasing them, "is there any chance I can have my man back?"

Horatio and Alexx looked at Calleigh, "hey Calleigh, you can have him, I'm finished with him now."

"Why thank you Alexx," Calleigh said jokingly, "I have a proposition for him."

"Well, I'll leave you both to it," Alexx wandered off to the lounge to find her god-daughter.

Horatio put his arms around Calleigh's waist whilst she put her arms around Horatio's neck, "and what proposition do you have for me Miss Duquesne?"

"Well, I thought that we could get rid of our guests, put Daisy Jo to bed and spend some quality time together. We don't get too much of that anymore."

Horatio raised his eyebrow's, "I like the sound of that idea," he gave Calleigh a kiss before they went into the lounge.

Everyone had left the house except Kyle who was still playing with Daisy Jo. Horatio sat next to them both as Calleigh carried on tidying up.

"Kyle, how are you feeling now?"

Kyle looked up at Horatio, "I'm fine. Donna is so cute."

Horatio smiled, "that's Daisy Jo, Donna is in bed."

Kyle's face dropped and Horatio could see something was up, "what wrong Kyle?"

"I don't even know the difference between them both."

"If you spend a bit more time with them you will get to know them both. Tell you what, do you want to stay over for the night? You can give Calleigh a hand tomorrow as I have to go to work. You'll get to know them both more then."

Kyle smiled, "that would be nice, if Calleigh doesn't mind."

Calleigh had heard the conversation between the two of them and spoke up, "that's fine by me. It will be nice to have someone else around."

Kyle smiled, Calleigh recognized that smile from his father, they were more alike than they realised, "your bedroom is as you left it, unfortunately."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "my mom has a go at me about the state of my room as well."

Horatio chuckled, "maybe you should tidy it up a bit then your mom won't tell you off about it."

Daisy Jo gave a big yawn, Calleigh went into the kitchen to bring out the bottle she'd heated up for Daisy Jo, "there you go Kyle, you can feed her if you want."

"B…b…but I don't know how to," Kyle was a bit nervous.

"Well, if you're going to be helping me with them both tomorrow you'll have to learn."

Calleigh showed Kyle how to hold Daisy Jo as he fed her. As Horatio watched Kyle interact with Daisy Jo, a heart-warming feeling rushed through him and he couldn't help but smile.

The next day, Horatio arrived at the lab. As he walked through the corridors, he noticed that Ryan, Natalia and Eric weren't about. They were either late or he was too early. Alexx walked past Horatio and he stopped her to ask what was going on.

"Eric and Ryan are in the staff room, they're very hungover and Natalia is out in the field with Frank who both seem to be fine. It's just Eric and Ryan who are a bit worse for wear. So how are you feeling this morning?"

Horatio smiled, "I'm fine thanks Alexx, not even a headache. I think I'll go pay the boys a visit. Thank you Alexx."

"That's okay honey."

Horatio made his way to the staff room and met a sorry sight. Eric was laid across the sofa with a cold wet towel across his face and Ryan was unusually dressed like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. Ryan had just sat down with a cup of coffee for himself and Eric who sat up to take a sip.

"You know what Ryan, I am never drinking again."

"Now where have I heard that one before?" Ryan had in fact heard Eric say that before, "I never say that because I know I will drink again."

Eric ignored that comment, "luckily for Suze, she hasn't got a shift today," Eric took a sip of his coffee, "anyway Mister Wolfe, what happened between you and Natalia after we left the club last night? We were waiting with you to go home one minute, the next you'd both disappeared."

Ryan looked sheepish, "I'm not going to tell you am I."

"But I'd like to know," Horatio stepped forward after listening to the boys conversation. Eric and Ryan both jumped out of their skins.

"H, I didn't notice you were there, how long have you been stood there for?" Ryan's head pounded as he turned round to talk to Horatio.

"Long enough. So you went out clubbing after leaving mine? You have no sympathy from me today. Hangovers are self inflicted."

Horatio's phone rang which didn't do Eric's and Ryan's heads much good at all.  
"Lieutenant Caine… okay… I'll send a couple of my team down there straight away."

As Horatio hung up, he looked at Ryan and Eric, "get yourselves looking more presentable, get your kits and get down to the South Beach main car park. I'll meet you there. Once you get down there, I'm sure your hangovers will disappear," Horatio grinned at the pair of them and left.

They both groaned, they really didn't want to move from the spot. But they had a job to do. Their hangovers would soon disappear.

"I didn't like the look of Horatio's grin when he said that, he's got something planned for us," Ryan was worried about his boss' intentions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Precious Chapter 4**

"You're just reading too much into it, he probably got laid last night while we were out partying."

Ryan winced, "I really don't want to think about our boss and Calleigh like that, especially whilst I'm hungover. Anyway, you probably did as well."

Eric smiled, "that my dearest Ryan, that's for me to know and you to never find out. You won't even tell me if anything happened with you and Natalia."

Ryan got a bit flustered, "right, let's get sorted and go to this crime scene."

They both grabbed their cups of coffee and went to the locker room to get themselves sorted.

At the crime scene, Horatio was stood by a car on ground floor of the car lot. Alexx turned up first.

"Horatio, where's the body? I can smell it a mile off."

Horatio looked at the car he was stood by, "it's in here but I'm waiting for Eric and Ryan to arrive to open it."

"Why?"

Horatio smiled, "I think it will be good for them this morning, considering the sorry state they were in this morning."

Ryan pulled up in his hummer with Eric in the front passenger seat. Horatio turned to Alexx with a slight grin, "Alexx, just play along."

Alexx winked and nodded.

Eric looked at Ryan, "this is weird, Horatio and Alexx are there but it's as though they're waiting to prank us with something."

Ryan turned to Eric, "I told you Horatio was up to something."

When they reached Horatio, Eric sniffed the air, "that smells bad. There's a body around here somewhere."

"Eric, that is why we're waiting for you two. I want you two to pop the trunks on this side and I'll start on the other side. I'll start over here and if you two start over on that car there," Horatio pointed over towards the suspected car.

Ryan and Eric walked over to the car that Horatio pointed to, "see Ryan, you were worrying for no reason."

Eric popped the trunk of the car that Horatio had pointed to and they both got the shocks of their lives. The smell of decomp hit them in their faces, they both jumped back in shock covering their mouths with their hands.

Alexx laughed, "are you still hungover boys?"

They both shook their heads, Horatio smiled, "go sort yourselves out before you contaminate the scene."

They both ran towards Ryan's hummer to sort themselves out.

"Horatio, that was funny, cruel, but funny," Alexx set about processing the body.

"Well, Alexx, if they're going to turn up to work in that state then it's their own fault," Horatio grinned.

"Tough love eh Horatio."

"Tough love Alexx," Horatio put on his shades and went to talk to the attendant.

Back at the Caine/Duquesne household, Calleigh had Donna and Daisy Jo in their high chairs, eating their breakfast or more to the point, wearing their breakfast. Kyle came wandering downstairs in his pyjama bottoms and a white vest top. He heard Calleigh trying to feed the girls.

"Morning Calleigh."

"Morning Kyle, there some cereal in the bottom cupboard and milk in the fridge. Help yourself."

"Thanks," Kyle went to help himself to breakfast and sat at the table with Calleigh and his sisters.

"Hugh, Anna and Chloe are coming round soon, we're going to take the girls to the park if you fancy coming."

Kyle swallowed his mouthful of cereal, "yeah sure. I'm not doing anything else today."

There was a knock on the door, Calleigh stood up and wiped her hands on the towel that she'd slung over her shoulder, "can you just keep an eye on these two while I get that please?"

Kyle nodded as Calleigh went to answer the door. Kyle looked at the red headed girls playing with their food and giggling to each other. Suddenly a little dark haired girl came running through and stopped in her tracks when she saw Kyle. Hugh wheeled his way through to see what she was up to.

"Chloe, wait for daddy," Hugh saw Kyle standing from the table with his empty bowl, "morning Kyle."

Kyle acknowledged Hugh as Calleigh and Anna followed through.

"Daddy, who that?" Chloe innocently asked her dad.

"That's Kyle, sweetie."

Chloe went a bit shy and sat on Hugh's lap, "aren't you going to say hello," but Chloe hid her face in Hugh's chest.

Kyle smiled, "I'll just take this in the kitchen and then go and get dressed. I won't be long."

When Kyle disappeared upstairs, Anna and Calleigh cleaned up the twins ready for the park, "is Kyle okay?"

Calleigh nodded, "I don't think he's used to all of these children being around. He'll be okay, he's going to come with us to the park to spend more time with Donna and Daisy Jo."

"Hasn't he spent much time with them then?" Hugh pondered as Chloe clambered down to see what Calleigh and Anna were doing.

"Not really, he's not been round much since the girls were born. Horatio had been worried about him. He wants Kyle to get to know his sisters but he was avoiding the house."

Anna struggled to get Donna to co-operate, "he seemed okay last night when he turned up."

"After Horatio had a word with him he was fine. I have no idea what he said to him but what ever he said to him did the trick. Horatio suggested Kyle spend the day with us today, I'm just glad Kyle agreed, not just for the sake of the girls but for Horatio's sake. He was really upset with Kyle's behaviour, he thought he'd done something to upset Kyle."

Kyle had heard some of their conversation from the top of the stairs, he hadn't realised that he'd upset his dad by avoiding coming here. He decided that he was going to really try and ignore what his friend had told him, why did he listen to his mates in the first place? He'd missed so much already, including the christening. He was determined to make up for his absence. He went downstairs as Calleigh and Anna finished getting the girls ready.


	5. Chapter 5

**Precious Chapter 5**

"Shall I get the pram out, Calleigh?"

"That would be great thank you. It's in the closet under the stairs."  
Kyle brought it out and tried to put it up.

"Would you like a hand mate?" offered Hugh.

"Yes please," Kyle was relieved.

Eventually, they both got it up. Calleigh and Anna put the twins in the double pram and fastened them in.

"I'll just get their diaper bags then we'll be off," Calleigh picked up two bags and put them on the pram.

"Is it okay if I push the pram?" Kyle looked at Calleigh.

"Sure thing Kyle, it'll give me a break," Calleigh was shocked but pleased that Kyle wanted to get involved.

They left the house and walked down to the park, with Kyle pushing the twins and Anna pushing Hugh with Chloe on his lap.

When they reached the park, Chloe squealed with delight. She couldn't wait to go and play. Anna took her off Hugh's lap and took her to play.

"Anna will be there for a while with her, Chloe's has too much energy for my liking," Hugh stretched in his chair and wheeled himself towards the bench in the shade.

Kyle followed him with Calleigh. Daisy Jo had fallen asleep but Donna was very hyper. Calleigh took Donna out of the pram, "I'll take her on the park, are you two okay here?"

Hugh and Kyle nodded so Calleigh took Donna on the park.

Kyle fidgeted slightly, Hugh noticed and asked him if anything was wrong.

"I don't mean to be rude but can I ask how you ended up in the chair? Dad didn't mention that you were erm…"

"Disabled?" Hugh finished off his sentence.

"Erm yeah, sorry I shouldn't ask."

Hugh smiled at the curious young man, "don't worry about it, I don't mind telling you. I just don't tell many people as I hate it when people start apologizing and start treating me differently."

"Oh right, if you don't want to tell me that's okay, I was just curious."

"Seeing as you asked nicely I'll tell you," Hugh smiled slightly, "I was on leave from the army. I had just returned from Iraq on leave and I had to go to the bank to pay some bills. There was a bank robbery and when I didn't co-operate with the robbers, one of them shot me in my back. When I was told that I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, I was devastated! The only life I knew was the army, it took a long time for it to sink in that I would not be able to go back to my old life in the army. I was discharged from the army on medical terms."

Kyle was stunned, he didn't know what to say, "was that before or after Chloe was born?"

"Before, Anna had been organising the house to be converted to accommodate me to make the house wheelchair friendly when your dad and Calleigh came to London on a case."

"I remember that, wasn't that when dad and Calleigh got together?"

"Yes it was, it was also the same time that we told them that Anna was pregnant."

"Can I just ask you something else?"

"Yeah go ahead."

"What were the salsa classes all about? Alexx told me about how she found out about dad and Calleigh. Apparently dad kept saying something about salsa classes."

Hugh laughed, "oh that! We all went to salsa class one night. Anna is one of the teachers and I play the guitar there. Calleigh joined in but your dad chickened out at the last minute. Anna noticed your dad looking at Calleigh in admiration. She tried to convince your dad to tell Calleigh how he felt but he wouldn't."

Kyle chuckled, "that's the Caine gene kicking in there, us Caine's aren't very good at saying how we feel."

"I noticed, but your dad took Calleigh on the London Eye and they got together on there. Not sure how as they didn't give details…"

"I don't think I want details, this is my dad we're talking about."

"I wouldn't want to know either if it was my dad but they never told us what happened. Anna thought it was sweet and cute, she got very excited. Then we told Calleigh and your dad at an evening meal in a restaurant that we were expecting our first child."

Calleigh came over to the pram with Donna and took out the diaper bag.

"Is everything okay?" Kyle stood up to see if he could help.

"Yeah I just got to change Donna's diaper. It smells really bad, do you fancy doing it?"

Kyle quickly shook his head and sat down, "no thanks, feeding I can just about deal with but diapers, no I don't think so."

Hugh and Calleigh laughed, "don't worry about it Kyle, I'll do it, I was just messing with you," Calleigh held Donna in one arm whilst she got out a towel to put on the ground then laid Donna on it. Although Donna wouldn't co-operate, Calleigh managed to change her. She handed Donna to Hugh, "just hold your god-daughter please. I've just got to check Daisy Jo."

Calleigh moved Daisy's leg up to check to see if her diaper was full. Sure enough, it was. When Calleigh took her out of the pram, Daisy wasn't too happy about being woken up but her diaper needed changing so Calleigh changed it.

"Hey Kyle, did you want to take Donna on the park whilst I finish off here. I'll bring Daisy Jo over when I'm sorted."

Kyle excitedly nodded, "sure, I would love to." Hugh handed Donna to Kyle who took her on the park with Anna and Chloe.

He sat on the swing with Donna on his lap, went down the slide with her and played in the sand which Donna found highly amusing, especially when Kyle made funny faces and strange noises whilst he pretended to be a sand monster. This sent Chloe crazy, she was running around after Kyle who in turn chased her and pretended to eat her. Kyle tried to include Donna and Daisy by pretending to eat their fingers when they were sat in their pram.

On the way home, Chloe didn't want to ride with her daddy, she wanted to hold Kyle's hand all the way back. Calleigh pushed the twins whilst Anna pushed Hugh in his chair.


	6. Chapter 6

**Precious Chapter 6**

In the lab, Natalia was working her solo case. It was a robbery in a jewellery store where the cashier was shot but survived. She'd been to the hospital to interview the cashier but didn't get much from her. She looked at the photos from the crime scene and the stills from the security tape. Nothing really stood out to her.

"Natalia."

She turned round to be met by Eric, "what do you want? I'm trying to solve a case here."

"Just come to see if you're okay."

"I'm good. I heard about yours and Ryan's hangover cure. Did it work?" Natalia tried to hold back her laughter.

"How did you find out about that?"

"A certain little birdie told me."

Eric became suspicious, "would that little birdie be Alexx by any chance?"

Natalia couldn't contain her laughter and started to giggle, "mhmm, I just wished I was there to see your faces."

"I'm sure Alexx would have taken a picture if she had a camera to hand. Anyway, what happened between you and Ryan last night?"

"I take it he won't tell you?"

Eric shook his head, "no he won't, how did you know?"

"Well, he's not telling you so you've come to me instead."

Eric was silent, he was kind of hoping Natalia would be slightly hungover, just enough to get information from her, "so your not going to tell me then?"

"Nope."

"Aren't you feeling rough? You don't like you've spent the night on the town."

"I don't get hangovers, also the wonders of make-up help me along nicely. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do and I'm sure you do too, see you later."

Eric left to find Ryan a bit disappointed. He then realised that Alexx may know so he made a detour.

Alexx was just tidying up the morgue when Eric arrived.

"Hey baby, I haven't got anything else for you on your decomp."

"I'm not here for that."

"Oh? What can I do for you then?"

"Has Ryan or Natalia spoken to you about last night?"

"No, why? Should they have?"

Eric looked a bit disappointed, "I thought one of them might have said something."  
Alexx looked confused.

"We went out after we left Horatio and Calleigh's. When we went to go home, Ryan and Natalia had disappeared. So me and Suze got a cab back to mine. Neither of them was answering their phones."

"And? What's wrong with that? Ryan was probably being the gent and taking Natalia home."

"Well yeah, but they were dancing together all night. I think something happened between them."

Alexx smiled, "I think you're letting you're imagination run away with you."

Eric persisted, "if it was all innocent, then why won't either of them say that nothing happened. They both are just saying that they're not going to tell me what happened. So obviously something did."

Alexx just shook her head, "I think you're making something out of nothing. You know they're good friends. I'll admit that they do flirt with each other a lot but that's just harmless fun. Nothing wrong with that."

Eric had a feeling that Alexx knew more than she was letting on but he knew that getting secrets out of Alexx was like getting blood out of a stone, impossible.

"Fine, I'll just have to figure it out myself."

Alexx smiled and shook her head as Eric left the morgue.

Horatio and Ryan were in trace waiting for results from the substance found on the inside of the trunk where the decomp was found.

"Eric's been asking me questions."

Horatio smiled, "has he figured anything out yet?"

Ryan shook his head, "no, he thinks that something happened between me and Natalia last night when we left Eric and Suze early."

Horatio laughed slightly, "knowing what his mind is like, I can imagine."

The computer beeped at them and spat out the results. Horatio picked them up and read them.

"It's a pollen from a flower. Mister Wolfe, can you please run this through the database to see if we can narrow it down to the species."

Ryan ran the database as requested.

Frank knocked on Natalia's lab door, "Natalia, there's someone here to see you."  
"Oh? Any idea who?"

"A lady called Alice Cordia. She said that it's to do with the robbery this morning."

Natalia quickly gathered her evidence together and put it away then followed Frank.

In reception, there was a middle aged woman sat in the waiting room. Natalia approached her, "ma'am, I'm Natalia Boa Vista, C.S.I and this is Detective Frank Tripp," she gestured towards Frank.

"Are you investigating the robbery from this morning?"

Natalia nodded, "yes ma'am we are. Do you have any information for us?"

The lady nodded, "I think I know who did the robbery but I want to remain anonymous."

Natalia and Frank's attention was fully on this woman and took her to an interview room where it was quieter.

"The reason I want remain anonymous is because it's my son, Devlyn. I went into his room to sort out washing and I found a bag under his bed. It felt heavy so I opened it to see what it was and I found a gun and a load of ladies jewellery."

"Ma'am, did you touch anything inside it?"

"No, I fastened the bag up, put it back under his bed and told him that I was going to my sisters for a drink. I came straight here."

Natalia turned to Frank, "if Alice wants to remain anonymous, do we need a warrant to search his room?"

"No we don't as I'm sure Ms. Cordia would give us permission to search his room, but we should get one so he doesn't get suspicious as to who tipped us off. I'll get on it straight away," Frank left the room to get the warrant issued and to sort out back-up.

Natalia looked at Alice, "can you go and wait at your sister's place while we do this? If you want to remain anonymous then we can't risk Devlyn seeing you here. I will call you when we have him here, okay?"

Alice nodded, "that's fine, I'll leave you her number so you can contact me," she took a pen and some paper from her purse and scribbled down a number. She then handed the paper to Natalia who thanked her for her co-operation.


	7. Chapter 7

**Precious Chapter 7**

Frank and Natalia arrive at the Cordia house with a couple of officers in tow. Frank told the officers to cover the back in case he decided to run for it. Natalia knocked on the door and a lad in his twenties opened the door.

"Devlyn?" Frank asked.

He nodded, "yeah, who's asking?"

"I'm Detective Tripp and this is C.S.I Boa Vista, we have a search warrant…"  
Frank hadn't even finished when Devlyn bolted for the back door. Frank reached for his gun and ran after him. He caught up with Devlyn as he was trying to unlock the back door.

"Why do they always have to make me run?" Frank put his gun back in the holster and brought Devlyn back into the lounge and sat him down on the sofa.

Natalia approached Devlyn and handed him the search warrant, "I think I'll start in your bedroom."

Natalia went up the stairs to look for Devlyn's room. When she found it and walked in, it was a typical lad's bedroom with posters of half naked women on his walls and the room wasn't very tidy either. She went straight to the bed and looked under it. As Alice had said, there was a hold-all stashed under there. Natalia pulled it out and opened it up. She found about half the stolen jewels and a pistol. She zipped it back up and went back downstairs.

"Hey Frank," Natalia caught Frank's attention and showed him the bag, "I got what I need."

Frank stood Devlyn up, read him his rights and led him a waiting police cruiser outside.

Back at the lab, Natalia took the pistol to ballistics, after she'd processed it for prints and G.S.R. Paul, who was covering Calleigh's maternity leave, took the pistol from Natalia for analysis.

"A Smith and Wesson pistol, SW1911 model. Nice," Paul examined the pistol.

"Can you compare it to the round from the cashier?"

"I'll do my best," Paul proceeded.

"I found G.S.R on it so we know it was fired recently, along with some juicy prints."

"So you have a suspect?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I do and Frank has him in holding so I need this doing as soon as you can please."

"Consider it done."

Eric found Horatio and Ryan in the lab searching through dental records to see try and find the identity of male decomp.

"H, any luck?"

Horatio shook his head, "we're searching the dental database."

Ryan looked up, "the trace we found in the trunk is pollen and we're running that now."

One of the computers beeped, Ryan turned the screen round to show Eric, "it looks like we've found our plant."

Eric read the screen, "nepeta, otherwise known as catnip. That doesn't narrow down anything, it's classed as a weed and is very common."

Horatio thought for a second, maybe the victim's clothes held some answers.

"Eric, where are the clothes from the victim?"

Eric looked in the evidence box on the table and took out the polythene bag which contained the clothes.

Horatio watched Eric as he took the bag put of the box, "can you see if you can find anything else on them?"

"Like anymore pollen?"

Horatio nodded.

"Sure H, I'll let you know if I find anything," Eric left the room to process the clothes.

Horatio was about to leave when the dental search came up with the results the needed. Ryan printed off the profile, "he's an ex-con H. He was in Miami-Dade Correction and Rehabilitation Facility. He was in for sexual assault but was released early on good behaviour about two months ago. His name is Jason Daley."

Horatio lifted his eyebrows, "an ex-con? Do you have a name on the victim?"

"Yeah, Tracey Tillidge," Ryan was shocked, "isn't that the same surname of Steve from the case that got Jake and Stetler in trouble a couple of years ago?"

"It is Mister Wolfe," Horatio looked up Steve Tillidge on the computer. As his profile came up, he took note of Steve's immediate family. A sister, named Tracey. He checked for Tracey's whereabouts on the database but came to a dead end, his face dropped slightly.

"What's wrong H?"

"Tracey committed suicide a week before Daley was released."

"Maybe she found out that Daley was coming out and couldn't face the prospect of bumping into him?"

"Maybe, and maybe Mr Tillidge blamed Daley for her death. They were both in the same correctional facility and Tillidge would know who he was."

Ryan looked at Horatio and knew exactly what he was thinking, "does this mean Tillidge will get a personal visit?"

Horatio put on his shades, "yes it does," with that he left to pay a visit to Tillidge.

Horatio arrived at the Miami-Dade Correction and Rehabilitation Facility, just as he about to enter the building when his phone rang. He looked at the caller I.D, it was Ryan.

"Mister Wolfe… what do you have for me?"

"Daley worked at the Oleta River State Park as a park keeper. I rang the park centre and they confirmed that nepeta grows in the park."

"Can you please take Eric down there and take a look around?"

"We're already on our way."

"Thank you Mister Wolfe, keep me informed," Horatio hung up and entered the building, clutching a file.


	8. Chapter 8

**Precious Chapter 8**

At Oleta River State Park, Ryan arrived shortly followed by Eric. They were greeted by the head park keeper.

"You must be Graham, I'm Ryan Wolfe from the crime lab, we spoke earlier on the phone."

The well built, fair haired man put out the cigarette he was smoking, "yeah, that's me. Are you here about Daley?"

Ryan nodded, "do you have a list of employees we could have please?"

"Sure, come into my office."

Eric turned to Ryan, "I'll have a look around."

Ryan followed Graham in to the building, "do you have many ex-cons working for you?"

Graham rustled through some papers in his filing cabinet, "yeah quite a few. Not many people want to do hard labour nowadays so I'll get whatever workforce I can get."

"Do you check them out?"

"Oh yeah. There are some criminals that I won't hire like paedophiles. There are a lot of families that come here so I don't want that kind of a person working for me," he handed Ryan a sheet of paper.

"Thanks, also is there anyone on this list that Daley had a lot of contact with?"

Graham scanned through the list, "yeah, Karl Jenks. Everyone calls him Jinx though."

"Jinx?"

Graham shrugged, "I think it's something to do with his last name. I don't know, apparently he picked it up in the slammer."

Ryan grinned and shook his head, "can you tell me where he is please?"  
Graham took Ryan to meet 'Jinx'.

Eric looked around the park. He noticed a patch of dead plants in the middle of a flower bed. He took a closer look and found some dead flowers and nepeta amongst the live ones.

"Can I help you?"

Eric jumped out of skin and stood up to come face to face with a long haired, burly man wearing a dark green overall, "who are you?"

"I'm one of the keepers, who are you?"

"Eric Delko, I'm from Miami-Dade crime lab. What happened here?"

"Some drunk fell in it a couple of days ago. We haven't had time to replant anything. We're a bit short staffed."

"Especially since one of your co-workers were killed."  
Graham and Ryan approached the two men.

"This is Jinx," Graham gestured towards the man Eric was talking to, "he'll answer any questions you need, won't you Jinx?"

Jinx looked at the men around him, "sure boss"

"I'll be in my office if you need anything else," Graham turned to leave them all to it.  
Ryan eyes narrowed as he looked at Jinx, "how long have you known Daley for?"

"A few months, I met him in the slammer just before he was released."

"When was the last time you saw Daley?"

Jinx thought for a moment, "maybe two or three days ago. He said that he was off to see someone in the slammer."

Ryan and Eric's attention was fully on the ex-con, "do you know who that was?" Eric got his phone out.

"Nope, he didn't say. Just that he had a score to settle. That was it."

"Thank you Jinx, if we need anything else we'll find you," Eric dialled his phone and put it to his ear.

"You calling Horatio?"

Eric nodded, "Horatio, its Eric. Daley visited someone in the joint to 'settle a score', you may want to check it out."

"Okay Eric, I will do," Horatio hung up then realised that the score he had to settle might have been with Tillidge. As Horatio was signing in, he asked the officer at the desk if he could have a list of visitors who had been to visit Tillidge. The officer obliged and handed a sheet of paper to Horatio who in turn read it. Sure enough, Daley's name was on the list.

Horatio was led to a room and waited for Tillidge to come through. A moment later, a familiar face in an orange jumpsuit was led in and put in the seat opposite him.

"Mr Tillidge, you just can't keep out of trouble can you?"

Tillidge snorted, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Horatio grinned, "you do know Daley don't you?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Well, he was strangled to death and dumped in a stolen car in a parking lot and I think you had something to do with it."

Tillidge laughed, "now how the hell am I supposed to do that in here?"

Horatio looked over at the prisoner, "I have seen worse done from this side of the bars so I do know that you are capable. I know you're a member of a drug ring, so you do have contacts on the outside."

"Now why would I go and kill Daley, he was my cell mate for a week."

"Because you have motive."

Tillidge laughed nervously, "and what may that be?"

"He sexually assaulted you're sister, Tracey. She committed suicide a week before Daley was released, you had to blame someone so you blamed Daley. Now I have been told that Daley came here to settle a score with someone and that someone was you wasn't it? I have a record of Daley coming here to see you."

Tillidge hesitated for a moment and folded his arms, "he came here to tell me that he was going to screw the rest of my family just like my sister. I got p*ssed off and pushed the table into him and he fell to the floor, the wuss. After that, I got taken back to my cell."

"Now that is what I call a motive. What did you do? Call up your buddies and order a hit on him?"

Tillidge stood up suddenly and his chair flew backwards. He pointed his finger at Horatio, "you're wrong Caine, I had nothing to do with it."

The security officer took Tillidge away screaming at Horatio.  
Horatio went back to the desk.

"Do you have a list of numbers that Tillidge called please?"

The officer once again obliged to his request. Horatio then went out to his hummer and drove back to the lab.


	9. Chapter 9

**Precious Chapter 9**

Natalia sat in the interview room with Frank. Devlyn Cordia was sat opposite them. Frank stared at Devlyn, "well? Who was your partner?"

Devlyn had been sat in silence for the last twenty minutes whilst Natalia explained to him that he was being charged for the robbery and shooting the cashier.

Natalia leant forward, "look Devlyn, the gun that I found under your bed has your prints all over it and so does the jewellery. The bullet from the cashier is a match to the one from the gun which was reported stolen last week. You are being charged with the robbery, assault and handling stolen goods on two counts. You can either take the charge on yourself or you can share it with your partner. What's it going to be?"

Devlyn sat there in silence still. By this time Frank was getting annoyed, "look punk, this getting extremely childish and to be honest, I'm getting fed up with trying to help you out. If you don't want help then that's fine, you can have your partner's share of the charges. If you give him up, then you will have a lesser sentence. So what's it going to be?"

Devlyn grinned, "why should I give up my best mate?"

Natalia turned to the officer by the door, "take him."

Frank looked shocked at Natalia. After Devlyn was led away he turned to Natalia, "why the hell did do that? He'd just started to talk."

"Frank, he said that he wasn't going to give up his best mate."

"Yeah, and?"

"Well I'm sure his mother can tell us who his best mate is."

Suddenly it clicked, Frank realised what Natalia was up to.

Devlyn's mother was waiting in the waiting room. She stood up as she saw Natalia heading her way.

"Did you get Devlyn to talk?"

Natalia shook her head, "not exactly. He wouldn't give up his partner but his did say that he wouldn't give up his best mate. Would you know who that is?"

Alice nodded, "James Gloucester. They've been mates since high school."

"Do you know where we can find him?"

"He lives two doors down from us. I should have known he was involved. They've both been in trouble before."

"Thank you Alice. You've been a great help," Frank took out his phone to get the suspect brought in.

"Kyle, would you like a drink?" Calleigh had just put the twins upstairs for a nap and was making drinks for everyone.

"Yes please Calleigh," Kyle fell into the couch feeling tired out from the trip to the park.

Chloe sat next to Kyle and then lay down on his lap to go to sleep.

"You've made a friend there mate," Hugh chuckled.

Kyle blushed slightly and smiled, "yeah looks like it."

Anna sat in one of the armchairs as Calleigh came through with a tray of drinks for everyone then proceeded to sit on the other armchair.

Anna took a sip of her drink, "so Calleigh, when are you due back to work?"

"Next week. It's going to be hard leaving the girls with a childminder. I've not spent much time away from them."

Anna smiled, "it will hard but you will get used to it. It took a while for me to get used to not having Chloe around me when I went back to work. You'll soon appreciate the time away to be with other adults. Don't get me wrong, I love being with Chloe but I love my job as well. I soon appreciated time away and getting back to some sort of normality. Also putting the girls with a childminder they will get to mix with other children and will make friends. Chloe has two boyfriends and a few best friends who she sees every time she goes to her childminder. Although, Hugh isn't too keen on her interest in the boys."

Calleigh laughed, "she's only young, I'm sure she'll have more boyfriends before she gets married."

Hugh lifted his eyebrows, "not if I can help it."

Calleigh and Anna laughed.

Anna turned to Kyle, "what about you Kyle? I'm sure you're fighting the girls off."

Kyle shifted a little, "not really. I'm not really into having girlfriends, I prefer to hang out with my mates."

"Just ignore them mate, they're winding you up," Hugh smiled as he took a sip of his drink.

Kyle looked at his watch, it was nearly five thirty, "I'll have to make a move, mom is taking me out for dinner with her parents."

Calleigh smiled, "you don't sound too excited about that?"

Kyle shook his head, "they bore me and mom always makes a big deal out of it. Can I come back again tomorrow to see the girls?"

"Sure thing, it's been nice to have you here," Calleigh was pleased at this and couldn't wait to tell Horatio.

Kyle lifted Chloe's head up, moved from under her and put a pillow under her, "tell Chloe I'll see her soon."

Anna nodded, "don't worry, I will do."

Kyle said his goodbyes and left to go home.

Horatio stood in the lab with Ryan, "is everything set for tonight?"

"Yeah, Natalia has finalised everything. Suze is going to make sure Eric is there on time."

"Does Eric still have suspicions about you and Natalia?"

Ryan laughed, "yeah he does. He's even asked Alexx to see if anything is going on between us."

"I take it Alexx hasn't said anything then?"

Ryan shook his head, "no, Alexx told me that she said to him that he was imagining things."

Horatio laughed as Eric walked in, "so what's so funny?"

Horatio cleared his throat, "nothing. Did you run the phone numbers?"

Eric wasn't convinced, "yes I did. There was one phone call just after Daley left and that was to our friend Jinx."

"Well lets bring him in."

Jinx sat opposite Ryan and Eric in the interrogation room.  
Ryan took out the phone record and showed it to him, "why didn't you say that you'd had a call from Tillidge just after Daley had visited him?"

"You never asked."

"What did he talk to you about?"

"The weather," the sarcasm from Jinx didn't go down well with Eric.

"We know you had something to do with Daley's death and we know that Tillidge called you to get rid of Daley."

"That's just speculation, you have no evidence to support that theory."

Ryan smirked, "we have your work truck in the lab now along with your equipment. One of our C.S.I's are processing it now. Do you have anything to say before we find out the results?"

"Nope."

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Natalia walked in with some paper and handed to Eric.

"Are sure you don't want to reconsider that? The garden twine in your truck has Daley's D.N.A all over it along with your epiphylls on either side."

Ryan leant over the table, "if you tell us that Tillidge put you up to it then it will help you in the long run. There not a lot more that can happen to Tillidge, he's already in for triple homicide, he's never getting out already. If you take the fall for him, you'll be there for a lot longer than you need to be. Help yourself because no-one else will."

Jinx let out a long sigh, "yeah Steve called me. He told me that Daley threatened his family and asked me to take real good care of him. So I did. I stole a car from the parking lot at the park and put his body in the trunk. I took the car to another parking lot and left it there."

"See, that wasn't so hard was it," Eric packed up the papers as the officer took Jinx away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Precious Chapter 10**

Later that same night, Suze took Eric to the nightclub that they had been in the night before.

"Why are we here Suze?"

"You'll see," Suze teased.

Eric followed Suze up the stairs to a private room. Eric turned on the lights and got the shock of his life.

"Surprise!"

The whole team were there as well as Anna and Hugh.

Ryan and Natalia walked towards Eric, "happy birthday," Ryan handed Eric a bottle of beer.

Suddenly Eric clicked as to what Ryan and Natalia were up to, "so you two were sneaking around me to organize this. And there I was thinking you two had got it together."

Natalia looked at Ryan and Ryan looked back at her, "Eric, do you really think I'd date Ryan? Come on, give me some credit. I do have standards."

Ryan mocked being hurt, "that hurt bad Natalia."

"You know I'm only kidding."

Eric and Suze joined in with everyone else. Alexx approached Eric, "I told you that you were imagining things didn't I?"

Eric grinned and lowered his head slightly, "you did Alexx and you were right, I let my imagination go into overdrive," Eric turned to Suze, "so last night when they both disappeared, where did they actually go?"

Suze put her arm round Eric's waist, "to make sure this room was sorted for tonight."

"Eric," Horatio caught his attention, "happy birthday. Just don't turn up to work tomorrow in the same state you did this morning. I might have a special job for you again."

Suze looked confused, "what did you have him do?"

"Both Eric and Ryan weren't exactly well this morning. So I sent them to a decomp this morning. They both soon sobered up."

Suze, who knew about decomp and various other things thanks to Eric, just laughed,

"I bet they were impressed with you."

Horatio smiled, "well, you could say that."

Kyle entered the room. Horatio walked over to him and handed him a bottle of beer, "glad you can make it son. That's the only bottle you're getting so make it last and don't tell your mother otherwise she'll have me."

"Okay dad, thanks," Kyle took the bottle from his father, "sorry I'm late, I had problems getting away from the grandparents."

Horatio pointed to a pink lipstick mark on his cheek courtesy of his grandma. Kyle groaned and used his sleeve to rub it off, "I can see, well son, you're here now," Horatio stood a little closer to Kyle to have a quiet word with him, "Calleigh tells me you've been spending a lot of time with the girls."

Kyle smiled, "mm well, I spent the day with them. They're so cute."

Horatio tilted his head and smiled, "I'm glad you think so."

"And they look a lot like you as well," Kyle teased.

"It's the hair, right?" Horatio joked.

Kyle laughed, "yeah. Anyway, Calleigh said I can come round again tomorrow to see them again, if that's okay with you."

Horatio put his arm round Kyle's shoulder, "of course it is son. You know what I'm very proud of you."

Kyle screwed his face up, "why?"

"Because you did what YOU thought was right. I just hope that the girls will have a big brother that they can rely on when they get older."

"Don't worry dad, I'm not going anywhere."

"That's good to hear. I have also been told that you have a new best friend," Horatio smiled.

Kyle had to think for a while, then realised what his dad was talking about, "oh yeah, Chloe. She's great, full of energy. I don't know how Hugh and Anna keep up with her."

"Well Calleigh and myself will have all that to come but in a double dose."

"If you need an extra hand just give me a shout," offered Kyle.

"I'll keep that in mind son. Anyway, let's get back to this party."

A week later, and Calleigh's first day back at work came all too soon for her. She had just waved off the McBreadles at the airport and walked into work. Everyone greeted her with a smile and a welcome back comment of some sort.

She was glad to be back, even though leaving Donna and Daisy Jo with the childminder for the first time was difficult but she managed it. She hoped it would get easier as Anna had promised.

Calleigh entered her ballistics lab, shut the door behind her. Everything seemed as she'd left it before she left. Her temporary replacement had done a good job. Then she noticed a target sheet had been left hung up in the gun range. She pressed a button to bring it towards her thinking that her replacement had forgotten to tidy up everything.

But as it travelled towards her, the holes in the target sheet weren't in a random pattern as they should be. They had spelt out two words, MARRY ME?

"Marry me?" Calleigh quietly read it out to herself as she took it down.

"So how does Mrs Calleigh Caine sound?" came a familiar voice from behind her.

Calleigh turned round to see Horatio stood there with his head tilted slightly, looking deeply into her eyes. She was speechless. She placed the target sheet down on the counter and walked towards Horatio who had his eyes fixed on her every movement.  
Calleigh put her arms around Horatio's waist and drew herself closer to him as Horatio wrapped his arms around her, "well Calleigh Caine does have a certain ring to it."

Horatio smiled and lowered his head slightly. Calleigh loved it when he did that.

"I'd love to be Calleigh Caine."

Horatio, who had been a bag of nerves for the whole of the morning, breathed a sigh of relief, "Mrs Caine, I could get used to calling you that."

Calleigh smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too," Horatio was about to give his fiancée a kiss when Alexx followed by the rest of the team came piling into the room, all cheering for them.

Calleigh hid her face in Horatio's chest, she had gone bright red.

Stetler put his hand on Horatio's shoulder, "congratulations. See Horatio, you never know until you ask."

Calleigh put her head up, "you mean everyone knew about this?"

"Honey, the whole department knew what Horatio as up to," Alexx beamed then started to weep.

"Oh Alexx, don't start crying, you set me off," teased Calleigh.

Stetler raised his voice above everyone else, "right people, I don't want to sound like a miserable git but we all need to get back to work. Come on, everyone out."  
Stetler ushered everyone out of the ballistics lab and turned to Horatio, "don't take too long you two, Frank is waiting to get to a scene," then he left them both to each other.

Calleigh playfully put her hands on Horatio's chest as held them, "Lieutenant Caine, you're very sneaky."

Horatio smiled, "you know I now have to leave a message on the McBreadles home phone for when they get home."

"They knew as well?"

"Mhmm."

Calleigh giggled, "can you imagine Anna on the plane all excited and Hugh trying to calm her down?"

Horatio laughed, "at least they'll have some good news to come home to."

"Well you better not keep Frank waiting. He's not very good at waiting around."

"Well then, I will see you later."

"You most definitely will."

They kissed each other and Horatio left.

Calleigh had a huge smiled across her face as she went to the phone on her desk. She dialled a number and waited for an answer.

"Hey daddy, guess what? … What? … You knew as well? … Oh did he now!"

The End


End file.
